Oblivion: sleazy way to up my skill?

I got sick of my fighter. Progress was just too slow, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd screwed up in designing him; I'd been working in a state of total ignorance, after all.

So I created a new character. My old guy looked kind of like me, except much thinner and younger. The new character looks more like my mental image of myself, which is very different. He's a high elf, very pale, slender, with a pointed chin and bright red hair. I made a custom class for him, basically a magic specialist.

What surprised the hell out of me was how much easier the game was with him. He primarily uses ranged fire attack spells and a summoned skeleton, and he's remarkably more effective than the fighter - I haven't died once.

One thing I need to do, though, is improve his magic skills. I haven't been able to train much, because I was pretty short of gold. When I finally DID pile up a good chunk of gold, I did something stupid with it: I bought a really powerful ranged fire spell. It wasn't until I tried to cast it that I realized that I needed to gain about 30 more points in the Destruction skill before I could use it! And now I don't have the money to train that skill.

But here's the thing. As far as I can tell (and have read), you can improve a skill just by using it over and over. So what's to stop me from simply casting a weak ranged fire spell five hundred times, thereby upping my Destruction skill by a lot? It sounds like a cheesy, cheap thing to do, I admit. But I could just go out to a safe outdoor area, aim my view at the sky, select my weakest ranged spell - I regenerate mana so quickly that I can cast it forever - and then put a small but heavy weight on the casting key.

And then go take a nap, and come back to find a much more effective character.

Okay, it's sleazy, lazy, etc. etc. etc. I know. But would it work? I can't see why it wouldn't!

Oblivion: sleazy way to up my skill?

I got sick of my fighter. Progress was just too slow, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd screwed up in designing him; I'd been working in a state of total ignorance, after all.

So I created a new character. My old guy looked kind of like me, except much thinner and younger. The new character looks more like my mental image of myself, which is very different. He's a high elf, very pale, slender, with a pointed chin and bright red hair. I made a custom class for him, basically a magic specialist.

What surprised the hell out of me was how much easier the game was with him. He primarily uses ranged fire attack spells and a summoned skeleton, and he's remarkably more effective than the fighter - I haven't died once.

One thing I need to do, though, is improve his magic skills. I haven't been able to train much, because I was pretty short of gold. When I finally DID pile up a good chunk of gold, I did something stupid with it: I bought a really powerful ranged fire spell. It wasn't until I tried to cast it that I realized that I needed to gain about 30 more points in the Destruction skill before I could use it! And now I don't have the money to train that skill.

But here's the thing. As far as I can tell (and have read), you can improve a skill just by using it over and over. So what's to stop me from simply casting a weak ranged fire spell five hundred times, thereby upping my Destruction skill by a lot? It sounds like a cheesy, cheap thing to do, I admit. But I could just go out to a safe outdoor area, aim my view at the sky, select my weakest ranged spell - I regenerate mana so quickly that I can cast it forever - and then put a small but heavy weight on the casting key.

And then go take a nap, and come back to find a much more effective character.

Okay, it's sleazy, lazy, etc. etc. etc. I know. But would it work? I can't see why it wouldn't!